Hiroshi Tsuburaya, grandson of Eiji Tsuburaya and the Space Sheriff who saved
the world in the 1980s, passed away at the age of 37 at 9:27am Tokyo time, on July 24, 2001 from liver disease. He is survived
by his wife of eleven years, Fumiko and three children. The wake was held on July 25 and the funeral on July 26, both at the
Siejo Catholic Church in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.

The funeral was well attended by family and friends. Brothers
Masahiro Tsuburaya (a producer at TPC) and Hideaki Tsuburaya (who runs Tsuburaya Communications) were there, along with many
production staff members from Tsuburaya Productions. Actors in attendance included Takeshi Yoshioka, who played Gamu Takayama
in ULTRAMAN GAIA and long-time suit actor Haruo Nakajima.

Hiroshi began his acting career by auditioning for a motion picture
in the early 1980s. After not getting the role, he felt very worried about his acting career, but was saved by someone connected
with the film, who gave him a small part in another movie. Following that, he landed his most famous role as the lead actor
in Toei Companys SPACE SHERIFF SHAIDER (1984).

Following the leads of Kenji Ohba and Hiroshi Watari, Hiroshi
Tsuburaya starred in the third of Toeis popular Space Sheriff series as Shaiders alter ego, Dai Sawamura. The series was action
packed and as the main character, Hiroshi was involved in many stunt and action sequences, as well as his fair share of martial
arts battles with monsters, aliens and henchmen who were trying to take over the World.

After the 52-episode run of SPACE SHERIFF SHAIDER, he went on
to appear in numerous television dramas and movies, including ARARENBO SHOGUN and MITO KOMON.

In 1996, he appeared in episode 49 of ULTRAMAN TIGA. The episode
involved the hero, Daigo, traveling back in time to Tsuburaya Productions in the mid-1960s, when the original ULTRAMAN series
was first being developed. In this, he played the role of his father, Hajime Tsuburaya. Hajime was a director on the original
ULTRAMAN and went on to take over Tsuburaya Productions after the death of his father, Eiji.

The following year, he accepted a regular role in ULTRAMAN DYNA
as Colonel Seiji Miyata, the commander of TPC (The Terrestrial Peaceable Consortium). He would return for his final acting
part as KCB Director, Kenji Tabata in ULTRAMAN GAIA.

Hiroshi was told a few years ago by doctors that he only had
about five years to live. He was determined to outlive his father, Hajime, who died at the age of 41. At that time, he was
instructed to take it easy. Wishing to help young actors get into the business, he temporarily quit his acting career and
became manager of Tsuburaya Productions talent division. This was the position he held until his passing.

The last known interview with Hiroshi was in The Space Sheriffs
Compendium, a book written by Mikio Ando and released in July of 2000.

All his fans will miss Hiroshi and his passing at such a young
age is very tragic. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.

Morinagas career has been on the downturn of late. After Uchu
Keiji Shader, Morinaga starred in a number of low budget, sexploitation projects. In addition, Morinaga could be seen in a
number of mens magazines as a nude model.